Planning Board Minutes - November 3, 2015

The following minutes are a summary of the Planning Board meeting of November 3, 2015. Interested parties may request an audio recording of the meeting from the Board Secretary for a fee.

Call to Order & Statement of Compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act: Mr. Joel called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. The following members were present: Mayor Aronsohn, Ms. Bigos, Councilwoman Knudsen, Mr. Reilly, Ms. Altano, Mr. Joel, and Ms. Dockray. Also present were: Gail Price, Esq., Board Attorney; Christopher Rutishauser, Village Engineer; Blais Brancheau, Village Planner; and Michael Cafarelli, Board Secretary. Mr. Nalbantian, Mr. Thurston, and Mr. Abdalla were not present.

Public Comments on Topics not Pending Before the Board – No one came forward.

Correspondence received by the Board – Michael Cafarelli said there was none.

Reexamination Circulation Plan and Regulations and Community Facilities Plan – Mr. Brancheau reminded Board members that the reexamination report is due for adoption by February 6, 2016 and that the short time period remaining would require a shorter version of the reexamination report than originally proposed. He said if the deadline is missed it could shift the burden of proof to the Village in litigation involving the land use regulations.

Mr. Brancheau provided the Board with information about the Open Space Plan element of the Master Plan and a report providing his recommendations. He said it was important to complete the review of the existing Open Space Plan and not spend time discussing the details of what an updated plan would contain. The purpose of the discussion was to review the material he presented to the Board. He said there is a need for a new Open Space Plan, which would include sections of the 2008 draft open space plan and the 2010 Open Space Committee report as well as additional new information.

Board members asked why the 2008 draft plan and the 2010 Open Space Committee report were not incorporated into the Master Plan. Mr. Brancheau said the 2008 plan needed revisions and the consultant, CMX, ceased operations and the Village’s contract with the firm expired, which made it difficult to make changes. He said the 2010 Open Space Committee report was submitted to the Council but never came before the Planning Board.

Mr. Brancheau also provided the Board with a report about the Community Facilities plan element of the Master Plan, containing background information and his recommendations.

The Board voted to incorporate Mr. Brancheau’s recommendations concerning the circulation and community facilities plan elements of the master plan in the reexamination report, and to add the Village’s Complete Streets policy.

Approval of Minutes – The minutes from October 6, 2015 were adopted as drafted.

Executive Session – At 9:05 p.m. the Board moved to executive session. At the conclusion of the executive session, the Board reconvened the public session and adjourned the meeting at 10:14 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

                                                                                                Michael Cafarelli

                                                                                                Board Secretary

Date approved: May 3, 2016